


Markiplier Manor

by JamyCatalyst (OutcastPack)



Category: Youtubers, markiplier - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Based on Discord Chat, Dark OCs, LGBTQ Characters, Markiplier Manor, Multi, OCs - Freeform, Pocket Dimension, Self Inserts, shameless self insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-07 12:38:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12841347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutcastPack/pseuds/JamyCatalyst
Summary: A story with One-shots based around ideas, prompts, characters, and people from the Markiplier Manor Community Discord Server! Let me know if your interested in joining and I'll send you a link!





	1. Welcome to Markiplier Manor

**Markiplier Manor**

**Part 1**

_‘So it’s a puzzle.’_

I stare at the screen of my laptop, having been in the middle of a Markiplier video, I stare at the inside of the goof’s pocket as he holds it open with the camera staring into it. Usually I wouldn’t care too much about Mark dropping clues, hints, puzzles but lately I’ve been determined to break the _‘codes’_ before any other fans do.

_‘Mark only posted this a few minutes ago, maybe I can solve it first.’_

There was something about it too, looking into his dark open pocket. It almost seems like a gag, a joke, but there are weird shapes inside. I can barely pick them out, but leaning my laptop screen a certain way I can better see them. But it’s still not enough.

Quickly I take a screen shot, and then I put it into Gimp Shop, because I don’t have any other photo editing software. I take the colors and invert them, that’s when I can see it.

“Is that...runes? A rune circle?”

It looked like a real magic circle, with real runes. Stuff from Celtic books, things from my Wiccan friend’s books. But there’s more to it, there’s numbers too. It’s completely different from anything I’ve seen before. And I did a HUGE amount of research into the paranormal and supernatural for stories I was writing once.

“Mark...what the hell?” I whisper as I stare at my screen. Shaking my head I fight against myself with a certain thought. After biting my lip I just go for it anyway, and I get up and grab a piece of paper and pencil. I run back over to my computer, I set that stuff down, and then I grab a big book. When I sit back down on my bed I copy it onto that piece of paper carefully using the book like a desk.

Something about it feels weird, but not in a bad way. It feels like warmth, comfort, fun, safety. Ironically it kinda felt like bubbles. But after rolling my eyes at that thought I play the video again, in the two next seconds of this weird hidden message in his latest video you see a door with scribbling on it. I tilt my head in confusion at that.

At this point I’m too far in though, so I sigh and shrug. I look around for an easily erasable marker; I find one in my rose covered desk. Then I take my RWBY poster down from my door. Carefully, again, I copy the magic circle, runes, numbers, and all onto the door. After I’m done and it looks good I take a picture with my phone and tweet it at Mark.

_-This look good Mark?-_

Laughing at myself and feeling stupid I put my phone back in my Captain America PJ pants pocket and decide to go grab a snack. So I put my hand on my room’s doorknob and open it. But when I open it there’s nothing there. Just never ending darkness, like space with no stars.

“Is that...the Void?” I ask into the nothing. For a split second I see purple, then the nothing suddenly sucks me in, like the bubble that protected me from space was ripped open, and I’m being sucked out of my space craft.

“HOOOOOLLLLLYYYYY SHIIIIIIIITTTTTT!” I scream as loudly as my lungs allow. I’m just falling, falling and being pulled towards something. I feel like grabbing something but there’s nothing to grab. I’m just falling into the blackness that absorbs my words and everything else.

 _‘What a way to go, death by thinking to heavily into a Markiplier video.’_ I think bitterly as my life flashes before my eyes.

It feels like a while that I fall but then I hear something. It’s like a whooshing and whistling in my ears. For a second it sounds like static, but only a second. Then there’s light, and when I open my eyes after having closed them in terror, I see....grass?

Two seconds later I land like a ton of brinks on a lawn of perfectly manicured grass, my mouth full of dirt and said grass. It takes a second for me to realize the landing should have killed me, but instead only made me moderately sore.

“Well, that was a dramatic entrance.” I hear a very family voice chuckle above me.

I snap my head up very quickly, only to hurt my neck and hiss with a mouthful of dirt. A little bit more carefully I spit out the dirt and crack my neck, then look up again. What I see makes my eyes go wide. There he is, the almost literal little shit himself, Markiplier, with a sympathetic wince on his face.

“You!” Is all I can think to shout as my mind shuts down.

He puts his arms out and poses. “Me!” He says smiling. He laughs at his own joke as I narrow my eyes at him. When he realizes I’m not laughing he stops awkwardly and offers me a hand. “Need a hand?”

I nod gently and pull my arm out from under myself. I put my hand out and he takes it, pulling me up easily, to my feet. Standing he looks me up and down innocently, most likely to see if I was hurt. But instead of asking he says: “Nice Captain America PJ’s! I’m more of an Iron Man guy myself.”

I pop my arms, my back, and adjust my neck again. Then I dust myself off and look at him. “Me too,” I reply with a hoarse throat. “I just got these cause they had pockets.” Two seconds later my brain reminds me of something. “Oh shit!” I shout and I clumsily reach for my phone. Luckily it was fine and I relaxed a bit.

“So uh,” Mark grabs my attention again and I look up at him. He then steps aside and presents the manor behind him. “Welcome to Markiplier Manor!” He announces grandly, and I look at the building very closely. It just looked like a normal mansion. “You’re the first one here so...congrats I guess! Although if you had waited a bit longer you wouldn’t have fallen from the sky like that. I wasn’t expecting anyone to figure the runes out so quickly. Had you waited like... two more minutes to open your door, your room would have gotten located IN the manor, not IN the sky! So I gotta fix that now! Nearly gave me a heart attack too, geez!”

I didn’t really hear anything Mark had just said, nor did I notice the little computer on his arm that he was typing into. Two things were eating at me instead. “Okay..okay okay, so, this isn’t the cursed manor from Who Killed Markiplier is it?” Then I thought a bit longer and added. “With like some bits of it changed?” Since it didn’t look exactly the same.

Mark looked up and raised an eyebrow. “No?” He said as if it was obvious.

“Okay...okay so, if its Markiplier Manor why is it so...normal looking?” I asked the other thing on my mind.

“Oh, well...I...” He paused, thinking. “I hadn’t thought of that... Might get someone to help me fix that later.” He says slightly off handedly.

Then, all of the craziness of the situation hits me at once and I think of the far more sane thing to ask. “Also,” I start calmly. “MARK EDWARD FISCHBACH HOW THE HELL DID YOU MAKE A POCKET DIMENSION?!” I yell incredulously.

Mark winces again and covers his eyes mid-yell, then he pulls his hands down and looks at me, slightly insulted. “No need to shout!” He barks back. And then his expression changes to surprise. “How did you know it was a pocket dimension?”

I cross my arms, still upset at not getting an answer. “I specialize in information about dimensions, alternate universes, and the Void.” Mark gives me a look. “Look most kids liked superheroes when their young, I was interested in the idea of parallel universe and shit okay. I also know stuff about the supernatural and paranormal cause I got into writing. But still, seriously, how did you make this place?” I explain defensively.

Mark shrugs then. “Someone I know made it and handed control over it to me. So I thought, why not turn it into a refuge place for my fans! Need a place to live, stay here! Need some time away from life, come here! Need some friends, they’ll be here!” Mark smiles proudly. “I thought it was a great idea!” He sparkles, so satisfied of himself.

I feel myself slumping, unbelieving, as I sigh tiredly. “Mark, someone can’t just give you a pocket dimension! It’s dangerous! What if this person-“

“Hey, you coming?” Mark shouts from the front double doors of the manor some feet away from me. It was then I realized he hadn’t really listened to a thing I had just said.

I sigh again and rub my temples. “Well... I guess it’s up to me to keep an eye on this place, and him, so he and everyone that comes here don’t die terribly.” As I dejectedly walk towards the front doors I see something from the corner of my eye, but when I look back there’s nothing there. Unlike most I don’t shake that off, but I do keep walking to the manor, on high alert.

“You going to take forever? Come on!” Mark says excitedly, like a little kid on Christmas. He throws open the doors as I approach and we walk in. Even still on the inside with the grand foyer it was just so normal and bland looking.

Mark clicks his tongue, looking around. “Okay I see what you were saying about this being....boring. Gotta get some to help...uh..”

“Markiply this place up.” I say for him.

He looks back at me and chuckles. “Yeah!”

“So...” I look around and hesitate. “This place is for fans?”

When I look back over to Mark he’s on that computer on his wrist again, the screen holographic. On the screen I see information about me and I flinch. He looks up and sees my expression then looks at the computer, when he quickly looks back at me he’s shaking his hands and head.

“Oh, hey, don’t worry! This thing just tells me about people who show up here, like a background check at work! So we can keep people safe from those who shouldn’t be here!” He explains quickly, when he says that I visibly relax. Then he smiles. “So you do youtube too, huh?”

I smile gently and shake my head. “Compared to you I’m the smallest fish in the gaming ocean of youtube. I just do it for fun.”

“Hey, no shame in that. And having fun is the reason you should be doing it, at least I think so. I’m guessing Jamy Catalyst isn’t your real name though.” He smiles warmly.

My smile begins to echo his. “Your right, on both accounts. Jamy Catalyst was a name I created, but it is MY name, you know?”

He nods in understanding. “I gotcha.” He then presses another button on his little wrist computer and a line of light appears on the floor, leading us somewhere. “Wanna see something cool?” He asks.

I nod and he quickly takes my hand, yanking me along with him as he follows the blue glowing trail on the floor. As we go down a huge hall lined with doors he points at one familiar one as we pass it. “That’s your room by the way, go back in and think about going back home and when you open the door again that’s where you’ll be.” He explains quickly.

We end up running down another two halls before we come across another big door. He throws it open and I see it’s dark, a bit cold, and full of huge computers with big screens. We walk in and up to the biggest monitor in the center of the room.

“This is the Master Suite! From here you can program the pocket dimension! Took even me ages to get it working how I wanted. Here is how we’ll re-design the mansion.” He sits down on a big roll-y office chair near the computer screen. He twirls a bit in it. “It’s also hooked up to the cameras around, so that we can keep an eye on big areas, so if something bad happens we can stop it.”

I nod, but something he said catches my attention. “We?” I echo.

He immediately stops spinning and looks at me seriously. “Well, yeah, I can’t keep an eye on this place all by myself. I probably won’t even get to be around often. Someone’s going to have to run this place while I’m gone. Obviously you wouldn’t be by yourself, we’re going to need several people but...you’re the one who knows about dimensions, right?” He grins, locking gazes with me.

Slowly he stands up and unclips the wrist computer from his arm. I’m holding my breath as he does. And when he holds it out to me I look up at him, incredibly surprised. I just blink at him as he gives me the warmest smile.

“The computer told me all I need to know. I trust you. I believe in you. You can do this. Just,” He pauses and tilts his head. “Don’t try to do it all by yourself.”

I’m incredibly hesitant; I slowly reach out and carefully take the computer from his hand. My hands are shaking; he notices and gently helps me put the computer on my wrist, tightening the strap to my wrist size. It was like a pip-boy in size, but it had a smooth black surface, and when I caressed it, a screen projected out and keys appeared on the surface.

_~“Welcome Moderator Jamy Catalyst!”~_

A beautiful female voice greeted me as my profile appeared on the screen. I looked up at Mark and asked in bemusement: “Is that Amy’s voice?”

Mark’s cheeks turned red and he just looked at the floor. “Yeah.” He replied shyly.

I just grinned and laughed.

He coughs into his hand and straightens. “More people will be showing up soon, I should probably-“

_~“New arrival Jamy, known as JackytheMoo or Jacky, fan artist from Tumblr.”~_

“Awesome! Computer Amy can you show me where she is?” I ask excitedly, ignoring Mark trying to get my attention.

_~“More than happy too!”~_

When the path on the floor appears this time it’s red, and this time _I_ grab Mark’s hand and drag him along. “We can ask her to design the manor!” I explain to Mark as he just lets me drag him along.

“Oh!” He replies simply. Whatever he was trying to tell me earlier seems not to matter now as he just shrugs.

And in the end, she did, Jacky designed the manor. Mark and I greeted her as our first new member. She was so excited and happy to see Mark, and when I asked her to help make the manor look more deserving of its title Markiplier Manor she was so happy too. Mark gave her a tablet like device and she started drawing, slowly the manor started to look like what she drew. There were Warfstache pillars, Tiny box Tim’s, a big M on the front door, the color scheme became brighter and everything looked so much more lively.

 From there they started coming in by the dozens; fans from all over the world, all so excited and so friendly. Before long we had at least two hundred people and ten other moderators of the manor. People were playing games together, talking, dancing, and just having fun together.

It was true, Mark wasn’t around much after that first day, but there was no mistake that Markiplier Manor did indeed become a safe haven for his fans.

“Oh, wait, Mark!” I caught Mark as he was just about to leave through his door. He stopped and looked at me. “Thank you.” I say sincerely to him, with the biggest brightest smile I could muster. Mark’s smile slowly echoed mine after I said that, our gazes locked.

Then he goes to leave again, but I stop him one last time. “Uh, just one last thing,” I say with my hand on his shoulder. “What about the Egos? Aren’t they here?” I ask, with some actual worry in my voice.

Mark laughs. “No, of course not!”

I relax when he says that.

“They live next door! You know, in the mansion from Who Killed Markiplier!”

I nearly pass out when he says that.

“Shit!”


	2. Meet the Egos

**Markiplier Manor**

**Part 2**

The Master Suite- Several Weeks Later....

_“So I should probably warn you about something.”_

Mark only had half my attention as I played Animal Crossing Pocket Camp on my phone. But I turned the office chair to the big monitor that held my skype face-time call with him anyway. Closing the app I looked up and put my phone in my lap.

“Go on.” I reply seriously, as now he had my undivided attention, well as much as my ADHD self can give him.

It had been a few weeks since Markiplier Manor became a thing. We stayed at a consistence of two hundred guests, with people coming and going here and there. Some were around almost constantly, others showed up at least once a week. Each large room was now turned into something new and exciting. There were game rooms, several of them, art rooms, rooms to just lounge around and chat in, rooms for snacks, rooms for pillow fights and forts, roleplaying rooms, crafting rooms, writing rooms and much more. The community and flourished here, and now there were several with moderator powers similar to mine. But....

 _“Look I never got to finish explaining about that handy little computer on your wrist there to you, last time we talked.”_ Mark starts, his tone more somber than the last time we were together. _“You probably realize by now you’re the only one with a wrist computer like that, the other moderators you’ve chosen have much smaller ones, like smart watches, that don’t do as much.”_

I nod listening intently; I had noticed that and was curious about it. But Mark hadn’t left anyway to communicate with him when he left, and the last few weeks had been almost pure chaos. So I hadn’t had time to look into it.

 _“First off I should mention, for security reasons you and I are the only ones that can use it. I coded it that way myself. But think of it as your key to manipulating the pocket dimension in its entirety.”_ He slowly explains, not looking me in the eye.

My eyes widen when I realize. “Are you...are you saying I practically have the power of a god strapped to my wrist!?” I question with concern and surprise, staring at Mark intensely.  

 _“Now don’t freak out,”_ He starts holding his hands out, but I cut him off.

“Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had given this to someone that... that didn’t care about people, or had anger issues, or...or!” I practically blow up with frustration and anger; bursting from my chair I start to pace in the computer filled room.

 _“I didn’t though, I gave it to you!”_ He argues, arms crossed, indignant.

“You didn’t know me, I could have been...,” I pause, starting to be a bit winded from the pacing. Having not eaten yet, and more than half way through the day, I felt a bit weak; although this was a normal thing for me. Now that I always kept watch over a mansion full of people though, I was far more active and I had started seeing the side effects of not taking care of myself properly more and more. Yet I still hadn’t adjusted to it. “I could have been anyone!”

Mark just narrows his eyes at me. _“You’re not though.”_ Was his simple and very stubborn reply.

I sigh heavily. Even though I hadn’t done much with Mark yet I’d already realized that him and I were equally stubborn and set in our ways. He was confident in his choices and I was a paranoid worry wort who second guessed myself constantly. But letting go of arguments was something I was used to, having grown up with parents that had very different views than myself.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and throw up my arms in a full body shrug. “Fine, fine, whatever. You got lucky Fischbach, let’s just move on!” I snap snarkily at him, when he grins I roll my eyes.

 _“As I was saying, it’ll let you do pretty much anything. Which I know you won’t do but...there are people who might try to...take advantage of that.”_ He states, avoiding my gaze again as he leans back in his office chair.

I scrunch my brows together in concern and confusion, standing in front of the monitor with my arms crossed. “Yeah,” I nod and say as if that was obvious. “There are those who want to pull evil super villain shit, where are you going with this?”

 _“There’s one person in particular I should warn you about.”_ He begins to say.

I hold up a finger. “I swear to God if you’re about to say who I think....” I pause and take a breath. “I will kick your ass Fishy-Boy.”

Mark makes one of his weird faces with the eyebrow arch and full body shrugs. _“Why are you guys so touchy when it comes to Dark?”_ He says this in a weird high pitched tone of voice with fake confusion.

I put my head in my hands, slowly sitting back down, I say under my breath: “You son of a bitch.”

 _“Look,”_ Mark starts again, his normal somber voice returning _. “When he sees you have that he might try to...persuade you to give him power.”_ Mark says carefully.

“Persuade my ass! You mean manipulate!” I snap up again, angry and pointing at Mark aggressively. “Dark’s tricks may work on others but that son of a bitch bastard can’t make me do jack shit!” I yell loudly, my body shaking.

Yeah, I could talk big and say that now but I knew. You don’t stare a demon in the eyes without your own demons staring back at you.

Mark chuckles, smiling. _“Good to hear!”_

**-X-**

So the idea of any of the egos showing up started to scare the crap out of me, and I started trying to come up with ways to keep them out. But honestly I knew there would be no stopping them if they wanted in. And sooner or later they would get curious about their new neighbors. And up until that day I was literally wringing my hands in worry.

“Hey!”

I jump when I hear a female voice from behind me. I whip around to see Frozen, one of the artists of the house, and one of the players of my future D&D game, standing in the arch of the game room’s doorway. At first she looked surprised at my reaction, and then raised a brow in confusion. She was holding a character sheet for D&D and a pencil, but she kinda lets her hands fall to her side when she really takes me in.

“You okay Jamy?”

I push my shaking hands into my pockets and nod quickly. “Yeah,” I clear my throat as I walk over to her. “Yeah I’m fine.”

She narrows her eyes at me, disbelieving. “I don’t know, you’ve seemed pretty distant this week. I heard you talked to Mark, did he say something?”

I just blink, and then shake my head. “Naw, he was just checking in.”

Frozen tilts her head then. “So...is it something else?” She asks gently.

Just as I was about to deny her an answer again a noise echoes through the house that none of us have heard before: A doorbell; which most likely thanks to Jacky sounded like Mark yelling **_HABOOSKI_** but in a doorbell-ish sounding way ** _._** Almost instantly my brain jumps, I know exactly who it is. And I shout at the top of my lungs, running to the door, down the master stairs, to the foyer, and I nearly trip and land on my face several times while doing that.

“I GOT IT!”

Several people’s heads popped up and stared at me as I zipped to the door, many of them with curious or concerned looks. But I ignore them all as I open the door as little as possible, slipping through the crack, then close it behind myself and lock it. I don’t address the people outside of it until I take a breath.

When I look up my heart almost literally stops.

 _‘Why did it have to be these three?’_ I ask no one inside my head as I see the three most intimidating faces, egos, in front of me.

It was Dark, in his full suit from A Date With Markiplier, with a glare that made me feel like curling into myself. Wilford Warfstache from the way he looked in Markiplier TV, a smile a mile wide, that didn’t reach his eyes. And then there was Google from how he looked in the Upgrade video, blue shirt, and the most blank and calculating expression.

Everything in me wanted to go back inside and just barricade the doors and never leave the manor, but something in me knew I had to stand up to them. Show that I, the other Mods, and the fans of this manor would not tolerate any of their schemes. I had to prove we were not to be messed with, that we were courageous and strong; even if the person holding the power of a god just wanted to go back to bed and hide under the covers.

So I slipped into a mask, a comfortable one, a familiar one of mine that I use when I voice act for badass serious characters. It was like flicking a switch, and suddenly I could look up at them, seemingly calm. As long as I hide my trembling hands in my pockets I was fine.

“Are you gentlemen looking for something?” I ask with as little emotion as possible. My chest puffed out, shoulders straight.

Dark looks me up and down, but as he opens his mouth to speak Wilford pushes past him and puts a hand in my face to shake. By reflex I jump to shake his hand, he shakes mine vigorously.

“Wilford Warfstache’s the name! We’re your new next door neighbor’s young lady!” He says excitedly, with some friendliness to his voice and posture.

I have to practically pry my hand from his shaking one and quickly put it back in my pocket. “With all due respect I know who all of you are.” I reply solemnly.

Dark puts his hand on Wilford’s shoulder and pulls him back. Wilford hesitantly goes. Then Dark steps up, trying to make himself tower over me. But since he was Mark’s height I was taller than him; which was at least one win for me.

“Good, that makes this easy.” Dark begins in his smooth yet demanding tone, but I interrupt him, my arms crossing defiantly.

“I’m not here to make anything easy for you.” I practically hiss with a sneer, trying to make it clear right from the start I would not have any of his honeyed words or manipulation.

“Are you here to make things **HARD** for us then?”

Both Dark and I turn and glare venomously at Wilford while he giggles at his little joke. We clearly both agree that that was uncalled for by how we both grimace. Quickly we snap back to each other though, ignoring Wilford’s continued snickering.

“There’s no need to be so hostile, _dear_.” Dark adds the word ‘dear’ onto his sentence with enough false sweetness to make me vomit. “Were only here to greet you and.... _the others_.”

The second he says _others_ one of my hands turn to a fist and clench tightly. I grit my teeth and stare with all the anger I can muster into Dark’s eyes, which reminded me immensely of the void I fell through when I first got here.

“Not happening, NONE of you are welcome in this manor!” I yell adamantly, with no room to argue.

Dark’s shell cracks a bit and he grits his teeth, Wilford honestly looks a bit crushed, and Google doesn’t seem to care in the least.

Suddenly the door opens a bit from behind me, drawing my attention, and I see a familiar head pop out. It was Bot Bro, or Tom, and they seemed to focus on me instantly.

“Hey Dad, I got Chef Bot working finally!” They say excitedly. But then they look a bit embarrassed. “But he can only make sandwiches so far, and some really weird ones too if you ask for them.” They adjust their glasses as they look back over at me.

Dad, the word echoes in my head for a second. The new nickname of mine that’s been going around that I accidentally started after making a terrible joke. I like it and regret it at the same time. Honestly there were times I felt like a parent of this strange crazy bunch of two hundred teens, young adults, and adults.

But that doesn’t distract me from the fact that: A; a locked manor door can open from the inside apparently and B; the door was opened and people could probably see our visitors. I tried to react quickly, even as Tom looked over and finally saw who was here, their eyes widening.

Oh, that’s right; I never told anyone the egos were around.

....SHIT.

“That’s okay Bro, don’t worry about it! I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” I stutter out as I push Tom back into the manor hurriedly, slamming the door shut. I put my back to it and face the egos again.

Google’s the one that perked up. “You have robots?” He asked curiously.

I’m sweating now, my mask cracking. “Yeah, Bot Bro there’s been making them. None like you though.” I laugh fakely.

Google’s brow just rises.

“So,” I announce clapping my hands together. “We have nothing to talk about and you should all go!” I try to shoo them all away before the impending stampede of curious fans come pouring out of the manor doors.

But instead of the egos getting off my god damned porch Dark grabs my arm suddenly, in a death grip, than he squeezes extremely tightly. It’s my left arm, the one with the master computer on it, or just Amy as I started calling her. He stares at it and my heart starts racing.

“So, you have it.” Dark pulls and now I am directly under his towering form, one hand holding my arm, the other touching my back, caging me. Like a snake twisting around my body, trying to crush me to death. “Absolute control of this retched place, in the hands of a...” He stops, just staring so deeply into my eyes I feel mesmerized.

I nearly get lost in those eyes, and not in a romantic way, more of a lost in space and you’re going to die from lack of oxygen kinda way. I could almost feel the darkness consuming me. I know he has powers like that, that can take you where you don’t want to go, but I felt so empty all of a sudden; like I was nothing but a doll, hollow, not real.

Suddenly I heard laughter, laughter I recognized. It was Tom, Sigma (Or the other Wilford), Moony, and Jacky. They were right behind the door talking, and most likely if they walked out right now they would see me being nothing but putty in Dark’s hands. Not only that they would be in danger, and I would be no help to them at all.

Images of Dark gaining the power to warp this world, to do what he likes with the members of this manor and to use them against Mark, flashes in my mind. Anger and fear start to fill me until I become like a dam about to burst. Those feelings give me the power to snap out of it and without thinking I react.

“Am... Amy send Dark away!” I shout quickly with a stutter, my body trembling heavily.

_~“Of course, Jamy!”~_

With a tight grip on me Dark starts to growl with a terrible anger, distortions over taking him, but before he can do anything more he poofs away. Gone, like a snap.

With a hasty twirl I turn to Google and Wilford. “Unless you want to be taken only God knows where too, I suggest you get the hell away from this manor!” I nearly scream, my voice breaking.

Wilford actually looks both saddened and disappointed by my reaction; he’s hesitant as Google pulls him away. And their gone by the time people burst out of the door. Everyone that steps out looks around and seems disappointed when they see no one here.

“Was Wilford really here?” Sigma asks.

“Was Dark?” xDamien asks in a similar sort of excitement.

I laugh, carefully cradling my arm. “Yeah, but they didn’t seem too interested in coming in.” After I talked to them that is.

Slowly everyone one goes back inside, and when they do I close and lock the doors behind them. A thought comes to my mind as I do. _‘Why didn’t Dark just phase into the manor? Can he not do that here? Maybe Mark made this place to where the egos powers are limited. How did he know about the computer? Does he know we’re fans of Mark’s?’_ I ignore the pain in my arm, trying to hide it as I head back upstairs to the Master Suite.

Before I can get there Snow and Frozen stop me. They both look curious and worried.

“Were Egos really here?” Snow asks with surprise.

“Are you okay?” Frozen echoes her question from before.

I put on my best smile. “Yes to both, everything’s fine.” I say gently then swiftly shuffle past them. They both seem uncertain to let me go but they don’t stop me.

Back in the Master Suite, doors locked, I pull my left arm from where it was tucked closely to my chest. I hiss in pain as I look at the deep purple bruise that would match Dark’s hand print perfectly. It hurts, but it’s not as bad as pain I’ve had before. So I step over to the bathroom adjacent to the suite, and I pull out bandage wrappings from under the sink. I wrap my arm up and tape the wrappings together.

When I’m done I head back over to the master computer and sit down at the desk, then an urge over takes me that I end up acting out. I go to skype and type out a message to Mark.

_ Your alter ego is an ass.  _

It only takes a few minutes to get a reply.

_did something happen_

_are you okay_

It looks like it was typed hastily and I huff out a breath.

_ I’m fine, just worried about the others. _

I wait again, holding my left arm closely.

_thats bullshit_

_your lying_

_dont do that_

_if something happened tell me_

I don’t type back, I wait a while, and when I think Mark realizes I wasn’t going to tell him anything he types again.

_your so stubborn_

_to stubborn_

_darks mainly going to want the computer_

_meaning you_

_but your more worried about the others_

_if you don’t at least worry about yourself a bit your going to get yourself killed_

I sigh and relax a bit.

_ Pot calling kettle black, Mark. _

_touche_

_still_

_if your worried about him just get rid of him_

I pause a moment, re-reading Mark’s statement over and over again. _‘He can’t be serious.’_

_ Are you saying wipe him from existence? _

_do what it takes to keep you and the others safe_

_i gave this world to you guys not them_

_not him_

_ But he’s your alter ego, don’t you care? _

_i didn’t create him_

_the fans did_

_i care about you guys far more_

_your important to me_

_i don’t even know how they ended up there in the first place_

So many emotions circled around in my gut, making me feel sick. I was sad Mark wasn’t concerned about Dark being pretty much killed, but I was also happy he cared about us so much. With such conflicting feelings my head spun a bit. Not to mention the adrenaline from earlier was wearing off.

But... I was one of many who had seen Who Killed Markiplier. I saw Dark’s origin. And I was one of many who cared deeply for Damien. Damien was a part of Dark, which meant I couldn’t hate him entirely. Plus it seemed like this was their place first; it would be unfair to kick the Egos out.

And... maybe some of them could live peacefully among us.

It was then a determination struck me. I would do what it took to keep everyone safe, even if that meant making peace with the Egos. Some would be easier than others, and even with peace some might still be dangerous. I could program that Egos couldn’t hurt fans in this world, but Dark could use just words to cut deep like daggers. And he would be the hardest to make a truce with.

If it came to it I would be bait for Dark, I will keep him interested in me and me alone. Play his game and play it in circles until the end of my days. Just thinking about that made me tired though.

With that in mind I text Mark back.

_ I’ll figure something out. I won’t end a life, even a fictional one.  _

_dont do something youll regret_

_ I won’t. _

_honestly coming from you that doesn’t make me feel better_

I pause, taking a deep breath I type out one last message.

_ You believe in me, right? _

It surprises me when there’s absolutely no pause or time taken for Mark to reply.

_yeah i do_

_ That’s all I need then. _

With that I turn off skype and push the chair away from the desk, me leaning all the way back I just look up, my vision going blurry. That’s when a thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Amy, where did Dark go?” I ask, remembering I said to simply send him away.

_~“I sent him back to the Ego Mansion, Jamy.”~_

I sigh and let myself completely relax, which was a mistake, as after the toll I had taken that day, having barely slept and ate in a while, I had nothing left to keep me going. Slowly, I passed out, and as consciousness left me all I could see was purple.

**-X-**

“Jamy.”

A soft and shy feminine voice greets me as I walk out of my room and into the manor for the first time that day. When I turn I see another one of the mods, Lupus, trying to get my attention. Instead of saying another word she motions for me to follow her.

“We have a problem.” She says gently as we walked down the halls.

When we get to the foyer she motions to the big windows on either side of the grand double doors. Outside I see a huge mess. The house had been covered in toilet paper and eggs, the grass outside had pink moustaches spray painted into it. I sigh heavily, then going to the doors I open them. When I take my first step outside I step on something that crumples.

I look down to find a folded piece of paper. Swiftly I pick it up and open it. In the most elegant writing I’d ever seen it says:

**I know who you are now, dear JAMY.**

A shiver goes up my spine and I quickly crumple the paper up in my fist, shoving it in my pocket I turn to the small crowd gathered on the front porch.

It was Liza, Trevor, Lupus, Jacky, Tom, and Sigma. Each having very different reactions to the mess the manor was in.

Lupus sighs. “I guess we should start cleaning.” She says sadly, and everyone seemed to echo her feelings on the manner of cleaning up the mess.

I smile and walk over to her. “No need.” I said to everyone, getting their attention. “Amy, please make the manor like it was before we were pranked.”

_~“Can do, Jamy!”~_

The computer replies with a happy-go-lucky voice like she always does, and for a moment the manor and lawn shimmer. Then, like magic, it’s perfectly clean once again. Several of the others that haven’t seen me use Amy to manipulate the universe seem in awe, the others just look happy we don’t have to clean.

“Well,” Liza, the oldest of us at thirty seven, puts their hands on their hips and asks. “What do we do now?”

There’s silence among us at first, then everyone looks over at me. Slowly I get an idea, so I rub my chin and start to grin evilly from ear to ear. “I think we should prank them back.”

With those words began an amount of chaos even I wasn’t expecting.


	3. The Job Part 1

**Markiplier Manor**

**Part 3**

The Ego Mansion was a weird place.

It started out looking like the mansion from _Who Killed Markiplier_ then it developed into something out of _Hello Neighbor_. The driveway was the same, the structure of the buildings, the knights with the moustache hilts, but then there were additions built on. One that stands out the most is the pink painted, neon sign covered, tower that said: **Warfstache News!** Then there was a tiny sign below it that added: **Now with Jims!** There were other odd changes but nothing as glaring as the pink tower.

“That... that sure is something.” Tom says, sounding as perplexed as I felt, the two of us staring at the drones’ screen.

“Agreed.”

Tom Tekin, alias Nenya Tekin, or as I call them; Bot Bro as she was our resident robot builder. She was also our resident genius; at 17 she was already taking advance classes in college. And here I was a college dropout; she made me feel like a simpleton. Which was good really, if I was the smartest person in the manor it would have fallen apart already.

She was a bit shorter than me, with short hair a bit longer than mine that was dyed purple. She also had glasses like me but they were brown and blue, most days she looked like a lumberjack as plaid was her go to color. Add the cargo pants, steel toed boots, and the fact she was Canadian _, (since there’s a lot of trees there, ya know?)_ she really was a lumberjack, just without an axe and no chopping down trees.

At least no one would around here as long as I had a say.

She also had some very nice tattoos, like the cool one on the side of her face; it was practically of a steam punk giraffe. I really liked tattoos; I swore one day I would get one. But she pulls them off so much better than I ever could.

So since I decided to prank the Egos back I knew I needed a plan of attack, and to make a proper attack you need a map, a lay out of the enemies’ base. Of course I go to Tom and ask if she has any spying gear, and as expected she did. She had multiple drones with cameras, and now were here sitting in bushes some yards away from the Ego Manor looking at the screens, getting shots of the layout.

“So...” I start as I look over at Tom, fiddling my thumbs. “I hear you like pretty girls too?” I say it as if that was a question, already regretting it as the anxiety makes my stomach knot.

Tom just slowly looks up from her screen, and then gives me a raised eyebrow look. It said very loudly: _‘Really?! You’re asking this? Now?!_ ’ And then she says in a somber tone: “Dad, no.” Not in a way she was disagreeing, but in a way that she was saying my flirting would not be taken seriously even if I tried.

Not that I would, I mean we were just friends, and their 17, and I respect her and her skills, and I can’t flirt, _AT ALL_.

I laugh as awkwardly as I ever have and rub the back of my neck, embarrassed. “Yeah, yeah, sorry just thought...” I pause and look up at her, then look back down. “Nevermind, I wasn’t thinking.” I’m so bad at this. But seriously, I think just sitting here with her by ourselves was getting to me. I get awkward and nervous and start vomiting words when I feel mounting anxiety.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, trying to refocus myself. “Yeah, seriously sorry, just getting antsy.” I explain honestly.

Tom just gave me a smile. “I get it; this bush is starting to affect me too.”

I blink and nod. Yep, totally the bush, and not me being terrible at real world social interaction. Yep, yep.

I take another breath and look at the screen in my hand again. “So, what do you think, now that we’ve got the layout in our hands?”

Tom hummed, doing some fiddling with the screen in her grasp. She looks through the bits of layout we have on camera, analyzing it. Seeing the screen reflect in her glasses almost reminded me of a certain anime villain. It nearly made me laugh, distracting me again.

“What about this?” She asks, turning the screen to me.

I start to focus again as I look at the picture she was showing me. Getting close to cracking up, I try to swallow my laughter. The fact that the Egos had a white van, just like Mark’s, was heavily affecting me now. But it must have been Wilford’s because it had a giant pink mustache on the front. Looking at it I start to slowly smile evilly.

“I want it. We have to have it!”

**-X-**

When we get back to the Manor I tell Tom to get the team together, aka the ones who agreed to endanger themselves with this plan. They were the _usual suspects_ around here, quite active in the manor, and among some of the first to show up. Most could be found playing Cards Against Humanity in the game room at any time.

I agreed to join Tom in a minute, but first I was going to find our resident Ego specialist.

She was a well-known fan artist among the Tumblr Markiplier community; she goes by Artist-In-Space there. I invited her here myself some time ago, as I was a fan of her Ego-centric comics. Around here you could usually find her in the art room, talking with other artists or drawing her comics.

I make my way over there and find her talking to some other fan artists. One of them in particular was Darkmagicsweetheart, who has actually made Mark merch before, but isn’t around here very often. I wait until the two are done talking and then I wave Space over to me.

With a nod she comes to me and follows me down the hall.

“What’s up?” She asks, giving me her full attention.

Space, or as others call her Phil, stands only an inch shorter than me, which I only notice as we start walking beside each other. She’s a bit chubby like me, with past shoulder length brown/black hair, and dark brown eyes, and with a nice smile she moves with a relaxed grace I could never copy. I can kinda see the Filipino in her too, as she mentioned.

“If I asked you about the Egos, like advice on them cause your our specialist and all, what would you say?” I question her, my new goal was to try and figure out a way to make a truce happen between us and the Egos. I thought Space’s help on this would be invaluable.

“What do you mean _‘Advice on them’_?” She tilts her head, a bit confused. I guess I didn’t really give her much to work with.

“I don’t know, like a way to make a truce with them?” I’m reluctant at first to say the word truce, but if I was going to get real advice, I needed to give real answers. And keeping everything to myself wasn’t helping anyway.

She takes a moment, arms in her pockets, thinking as she swings her legs back and forth as we walked. It was after a minute of silence she spoke up, looking back over at me. “Hmm... Well we all know Mark, and every ego branches out from him- and to make a truce with anyone, I think it's best to confess, own up, demand the other to as well, and keep into consideration what both parties have done. Never make yourself the victim, nor the enemy, as the Egos can perceive if you’re one or the other, and it will not end pretty if it comes to a pass.” Space seems very serious and considerate as she says this, her brow still scrunched in thought. She takes a moment, nods to herself, and then adds.

“The lighter Egos are the easiest to forgive, because they'll probably just go with it. The _'in-between'_ Egos might be a bit apprehensive, having this _'line'_ that you shan't cross and may cross. But the important fact is, stand your ground, and demand the truce.” Her words are very adamant, and then she skips ahead of me as we walk and turns in her step, staring me down.

“Don't baby with the Egos, that'd be weird if you're asking for a truce, especially the _'difficult_ ' egos like Wilford and Dark or something. With them, it's best to make them see both sides.” She warns, crossing her arms, looking me eye to eye. I was honestly surprised by her answer, and how sure of it she was.

But after a moment of looking me down she smiles and shrugs with a laugh, finally saying: “But _idk_ man, I just draw them. You do what you think is best, you are the mod after all.”

I nearly trip over my own foot in shock. One moment she seems very certain of her answer, then she does a one eighty. Quickly though I straighten myself out and nod, smiling at her, I try to portray my thankfulness.

“Thanks Phil, I really appreciate it.” I say warmly, walking up to her and giving her a pat on the shoulder.

She smiles again and pats me on the shoulder back. “No problem!”

**-X-**

 

As I walk back towards the Master Suite what Space told me bounces around in my head. Demanding a truce, especially with Dark, seemed dangerous. But the idea I had to lay everything out there, own up to things I’ve done, and not be an enemy or a victim, it seemed almost impossible. What would I have to own up to? The fear that the Egos might rip this manor apart? The fear that I might not be worthy, might not be strong enough to have this responsibility that Mark gave me, and not be capable of protecting everyone?

My pace slows down; I clench my fist and bite my lip.

If I could I would have given Amy to someone else already. Any of the other mods were better suited than me. But I was too afraid of disappointing Mark to ask him to assign it to someone else, and I wasn’t going to leave the manor unguarded. Even though I’m sure the tenants of this manor, or at least some of them, could take care of themselves these are almost other worldly beings with incredible destructive power were talking about here. Sure, now I’ve finally programed it to where they could never really hurt anyone of the manor, but I’m sure just leaving things unattended would be disastrous.

I start walking again, trudging now, and not really paying attention to my surroundings.

This was supposed to be a safe haven, but ... some of the Egos literally live for the kill. And Dark, Dark wanted the power to control everything. But... I breathe in a bit when I wonder, why does Dark want this power? Sure he was written to crave power; it’s in his villain like personality. But in a world where things are more complex than a kid’s cartoon why would he want that power?

As a person with 3 years of college psychology under my belt, I know usually a craving for power comes from a deep seeded fear. One wants control so they’re no longer afraid.  But what would the human form of darkness fear?

Now I had a real quandary on my hands. The only way I’d get answers was by confronting Dark. It scared me, he scared me, but I was willing to face him. For the friends I’d made here, and for the answers I now craved. I would do whatever it took to make a truce, even if that meant pulling pranks to earn Wilford’s respect, and by challenging Dark, showing him that I was to be respected.

**-X-**

I open the double doors to the Master Suite to find _‘the usual suspects’_ around the table in the center of the room, pictures of Ego Manor displayed and projected. Tom had already started the de-brief and was at the head of the table, keyboard in hand. Other than her there were thirteen others that had volunteered for this job.

The first of them stood out among the rest. Sigma was one of the few people who, when they arrived here at the manor, requested an appearance change. Now William G Daisy or aka Sigma looked like what I could only guess was their OC, or really now they _were_ their OC. They stood 5’7, with two black tails, short black hair with purple on top, and were extremely lean with stitches on their arms and stomach. Not to mention what looks like cat ears and blue tinted round glasses, a gray hoodie, and a red and black scarf that seems to go on for forever.

“So someone said something about revenge?” Sigma asks with an eerie smile, hovering a bit off the ground. If I could see their eyes better I’d say there was a sparkle there.

Max turned to Sigma and gave them a raised brow. “Can pranking really be considered revenge?” He asks, thinking about it a bit.

Max was the next suspect. He was 17 and from Italy. At 177 cm tall, a bit chubby, he had brown short curly hair that liked to stick up. He had black glasses and was wearing jeans and a blue shirt. He was shy at times, but he had started becoming more comfortable with this group in particular.

“I don’t know, we’re not planning to hurt any of the Egos, right?” Star pipes up, looking concerned.

Immediately I answer her. “No, as long as things don’t go wrong no one should be hurt.”

Sigma huffs and seems slightly disappointed. “That’s no fun.”

“Hey if Dark or Wilford try to pull something you’ll be our line of defense.” I offer them.

Sigma looks down, thinking. “If push comes to shove, I’m not hurting Warfstache, just saying.”

Several people make sounds of agreement, and I relent.

Star was the next on the list. At the age of 25 and from England, she was one of the older members of the group. She was about average height, so my size, with a slender build. She had long pink hair in a high ponytail with fringe bangs. With pink eyes she stood out among several of us as well, not to mention the elf ears she had, and the rectangular glasses. Obviously she had changed her appearance like Sigma, just not as much. Her skin was almost pale white, and went well with her pink Warfstache hoodie and jeans.

I remember Sigma and Star bonding over that hoodie and their love for Wilford Warfstache. Which to be honest is one of my favorite Egos too.

Savii was standing next to Star, and one of the quieter members of the group. Savii was the same height as Star and me, she was 19 and from the US like me. She had shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, had jeans and one of Mark’s terrible Christmas sweaters on.

When I hear a certain familiar phone noise I look over my shoulder. In the corner, leaning up against the wall, quiet as Savii was one of our mods; Lupus Aeterna. She was standing there, playing Mystic Messenger on her phone. When she realizes I’m looking at her she anxiously coughs into her hand and puts her phone away.

Another of the group who decided to be their OC. Hmmm, there were more people that did that than I thought. Lupus was fit and stood at 5’5, her hair was black/brown with blue dyed bangs, with wolf ears and silver eyes. She was wearing a normal grey tee, flannel, and jeans. Lupus was 22 and from the US, yet again like me.

“So,” Raven breaks the out-of-focus moment of Mystic Messenger. “Are we going to have to deal with Dark?” He asks, worried.

I cross my arms and let out a breath. To that question there are mixed feelings in the room. Some excited at the idea of seeing him, others terrified at the idea. I knew one way or another; someone would be disappointed by my answer.

“If we can help it I’d like to avoid him.”

I heard several sigh in relief.

Raven aka Alex was another of the ten mods of Markiplier Manor. Alex was 17 and from the UK. He stood at 171 cm, has short brown spikey hair, had brown eyes, and was wearing a black shirt and dark pants.

“That’s good cause, you know,” Raven giggles under his breath. “I’m just afraid of the dark.” He smiles brightly, and continues to fill the room’s silence.

Several people groaned.

“Are you s-sure,” Caty speaks up, another of the shy bunch. She raises her hands and clears her throat. “Are you sure we won’t see Dark?” Caty asks with interest, trying to talk through her anxiety and shyness she trips up a bit. But standing next to xDamien, who had similar feelings as her about Dark, seems to carry her through.

Caty was 21 and on the shorter side compared to several of the others; she was 5’2. With reddish brown waist length hair, she has hazel eyes and black rimmed glasses similar to mine. From the US, she can usually be found wearing hoodies.

xDamien was 21 and from Germany. She stood at 1.76 meters tall, and had hair that was blonde on top, brown in the middle, and black at the tips. She too had a hoodie, but unlike others was wearing a neat looking beanie. Usually she’s with Jacky, but her, Caty, and a few others had sort of started an unspoken Darkiplier club.

I knew there were several among us that were attracted to him, but he was bad news, very dangerous. And while I also noticed how... appealing he was, looking into his abyssal and anger filled eyes the other day reminded me that he was too dangerous to let **in**.

“If we’re lucky we won’t.”

Most of the room gives me a certain look when I say this and my voice cracks a bit. But I ignore their looks and move on. I walk around the table and hold out my hand to Tom. She hands me the keyboard attached to the computer inside the table. I type in something and more pictures appear, projecting out.

“Okay team-” I get cut off as I start my own part of the de-brief.

“Oh my god,” Jessy yells in astonishment, jumping up on half the table. “Look at that pink tower!” Her eyes shine in awe as she stares at the projection of Warfstache News tower.

Jessy was 21 years old and from Germany too. At 1.65 meters tall, with blue eyes, she was a bit pale. She had raggedy short pink and purple hair, and was wearing a wolf covered sweater and jeans. Jessy was one of the more energetic members.

“Yeah, Warfstache News, now with Jims.” I smile as I point out the neon sign.

Immediately the room is full of shouting. “JIMS!” Everyone yelled at almost the same time, and then there was a moment of silence. Everyone looked at each other and then started laughing hysterically.

“Hey guys!” Moony pipes up, jumping onto the table like Jessy did. They smile at each other; “Table bros!” They yell in glee, they high five and then Moony turns back to the map. Everyone kinda just waits as they point something out. “What’s that?” They ask.

Moony was another of the more hyper persons of team _‘usual suspects’_. They were 23 and from Serbia. They were 5’8, with short pink hair; one side of it slicked back, the other side with longer floof over their face. They wore a brightly colored flannel with brightly colored pants, and oddly they carried a white and gray rabbit with them everywhere, that I’ve never asked about.

I turn my attention to where their pointing. It’s something I had seen earlier, when we were spying, but didn’t think to comment on it. When I zoom in on the pictures, we kinda see someone standing at the outskirts of the manor.

“A look out?” Liza thinks out loud, the same thought I imagine most of us were thinking too. They adjust their glasses and squint at the image as it slowly zooms in.

Liza, as said before, is the oldest of the group. Their 37, although they insist their young at heart, and I’m inclined to believe that since their Canadian: The place of syrup, kindness, and young at heart-ness. They stand at 5’ll, pretty chubby, with blue hair that’s a floof on top with brown buzzed sides. They also wear tortoiseshell glasses, have blue eyes, button nose, round face, and are very pale.

As the zoom in finally focuses and we can make out who the lookout is there’s a hushed silence that engulfs the room as we all take it in. Several of us blink, surprised and unbelieving.

“Whose ingenuous idea was that?” Liza asks, their hands folded as they speak in the snarkiest tone they can muster.

“Bet it was Wilford’s.” Max says with a snicker.

“Shut up!” Sigma and Star say together, both hitting Max on each shoulder.

“Ow!”

“Settle down.” I call in a deeper voice than usual. I know if I do that I don’t have to yell in this room as it’ll echo off the walls. When the whispering and sarcastic comments stop, I look back at the image. “So...” I start, trying not to smile or laugh. “The Host is their look out.”

“They realize he doesn’t have eyes, right?” Jessy asks, holding out her arms in an animated movement of full body confusion.

“Maybe there’s something more to it? I mean he has to be able to see somehow with his ability to narrate, right?” Kenny points out, and everyone murmurs in agreement to the statement.

Kenny was one of the younger members of the group, at 13 years old, yet seeming mature for her age. She was from the US too; she was also on the shorter side, plus just smaller in general. She had brown hair past shoulder length, brown eyes, and lightly tan. Kenny had protective instincts like me, and was one of the first Mods after myself.

This wasn’t all of _‘the usual suspects’_ but it was some of them. I imagine I’ll have to bring the ones not here on a separate adventure, since I want everyone to get a turn. But for now this was already a pretty big group.

“Do we have a plan?” Tom asks, and immediately everyone turns to me. Usually the attention would make me uncomfortable, but I did have a plan, and I considered these guys my partners in crime.

So I grin. Looking around I nod slowly, and then I tap on the keyboard again. The picture of Wilford’s van shows up and people start murmuring again.

“Wait,” Sigma holds up their hands. “You want us to steal... what is probably Warfstache’s van?”

Moony laughs. “I like that idea!”

“Me too!” Max and Jessy say at the same time.

“That sounds... crazy?” Lupus says gently, rubbing her arm shyly.

“I mean crazy is what we specialize in, right?” Liza replies confidently.

Several people cheer at that, yelling in agreement. For a moment people high five and laugh, the tension in the room from earlier seeps out and people start to get excited. And that was what I was hoping for.

I cross my arms and cough to get people’s attention again, they all refocus on me and I smirk. “Not only are we stealing the van, were keeping it for our own.” I state confidently.

“Aw man that’s awesome!” Max yells.

“That’s hilarious!” Jessy adds.

“Classy.” Liza and Raven both say with meme-like grins.

“I don’t know guys, won’t that upset Wilford?” Star asks, uneasy about upsetting her favorite Ego. Sigma seemed to be feeling the same.

“It’s payback, right? I’m sure he’ll understand.” Kenny argues calmly, thinking herself about some of Wilford’s traits. But then she pauses and blinks. “Right?” She turned to everyone, suddenly unsure, trying to see if her conclusion was right and not a huge and dangerous miscalculation.

“Look, this is about earning their respect. They have to see we’re capable and that there will be consequences to their actions.” I explain with some venom in my voice, the room seems to stare a bit, concerned by my tone. I shake my head a bit, trying to shake off my sudden anger and continue. “Anyway, here’s the plan-”

I get cut off again as the double doors to the Master Suite get practically kicked in. Suddenly we’re all bathed in light, having to shield our eyes. Before we can see who had the audacity to interrupt our meeting like that, I feel something cold at my knee. I swiftly look down and see...

“Chica?” I ask in a whisper as I go to put my hand out to pet her.

“What’s going on here, guys?” I hear a familiar voice ask with concern.

I flinch before I can reach down for Chica, and I slowly turn to the owner of the voice, whom was looking at our pictures of Ego Manor with suspicion.

“I thought I said not to do something you’d regret.” He says seriously with his arms crossed, a somber look on his face.

“Oh, hi Mark!” I greet with false glee.

“Busted.” Tom, Max, Moony, Jessy, Raven, Liza, Sigma, and Star all say under their breaths at the same time. I turn to glare at all of them.

_‘Shit!’_


	4. The Job Part 1.5

**Markiplier Manor**

**Part 4**

“Welp, we just got bamboozled.”

Sigma is the first to break the silence in the room, silence caused by the staring contest me and Mark had started, raising the tension as seconds ticked by. Many seemed to be made uncomfortable by that fact, but two in particular decided to take it upon themselves to lower that tension.

“You got that right cat ears.” Max added, looking across the table at the being in question. Max notices the twinge in their eyes and starts to smile mischievously.

“Their...” Sigma starts, talking through gritted teeth. “Wolf ears!” He shouts, slamming his hands down onto the table.

Lupus’ own ears twitch.

“Aww! But they look so fuzzy and cute!” Max argues, his grin only growing.

“I’ll eat you alive!” Sigma growls, starting to climb up onto the table.

“But I’m neither a fish nor a mouse!” Max teases, seemingly not afraid at all of the creature who had climbed over the table, and grabbed him forcibly by the collar.

“I’ll rip you to pieces!” They yell as they shake the younger boy in question, who had honestly brought this upon himself. Oddly, Max was still grinning.

Suddenly there was a loud crash as I brought my hand down onto the table’s screen, slamming it down with as much force as possible. I heard Tom audibly whimper. The noise from my fist echoes, the screen on the table cracks, and my fist starts to bleed.

“Children, enough!” I shout with my deep voice once again. The room goes deathly silent and still twice over, everyone staring at me. “This briefing is dismissed!” I add, starting to cradle my hand to myself. I turn my attention to Sigma and Max who are still tangled together. “You two, go blow off some steam! And don’t hurt or aggravate each other!” I say slowly and seriously, glaring at them. “The rest of you, stay ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice, until then head out!”

The moment I say that everyone scrambles to leave the room, some more than others. Everyone leaves except for Mark, who still has me in his sights. I ignore him as I bring back out my first aid kit. This would be the third time in two days I’ve needed it. I was lucky that things healed faster and better in this world.

Sitting down in the main office chair, I wrap my hand up and sigh, my back turned to Mark. “I know your upset, but don’t take it out on the others. That tension was a bit too much for some of them with bad anxiety.”

Suddenly my chair is spun, and I’m face to face with Mark. His eyes for a moment remind me of Dark’s, it makes my heart stop, but it’s only for a moment. He looks down and sees my hands shaking; he takes the bandages I’m failing to wrap properly and does it himself, slowly and gently. Then he clips the bandages together. I feel frozen as he goes to pull a chair out for himself, and he ends up sitting very close to me.

“So, what was the grand scheme you clearly,” Mark points his thumb over his shoulder to the destroyed table computer and projection screen. “Didn’t want me to see.” He crosses his arms and waits.

“If you know will you try to stop us?” I ask, holding my hand close. I’m hesitant to look in his eyes again, but I do, swallowing back a lump in my throat.

Mark sighs, messaging his temples. “You said you would protect them.” What he says and the way he says it stabs me in the heart. And a fire starts to burn in my chest.

“I am!” I yell back, angry that he would assume I would risk anyone’s lives.

“You were planning to attack Dark, right?! After he threatened you?” He says, his voice rising in irritation.

“What?!” I stand up swiftly, looking down at him. “No!” I start to pace then, shaking. “I would never do that! We were just going to prank Warfstache back for pranking us! Jesus Mark, unlike you I’m not willing to kill anyone!” I nearly scream it before I realize what I’m saying, and I swiftly spin on my heel to see the surprise and shock on Mark’s face. “Wait, I didn’t-”I stammer out quickly.

“Wilford pranked you?” Mark asks, almost seeming to ignore what I had said last. He can’t seem to look me in the eye.

And now I can’t look at him either. “Yeah, egged and tped the house. He got upset when I told him he wasn’t welcome in the manor.”

“Why’d you say that?” Mark is starting to lean back in the chair, eyes looking at the ground.

“I...” I pause and think back to the encounter a few days ago. It doesn’t feel like a few days, as time moves differently here, but honestly I didn’t have much of an answer for Mark. But I decide to be honest; I at least owed him that. “I was scared, I was worried if him or any of the other Egos came in they would hurt the tenants of the manor. And as you said, I’m supposed to protect them but...” I paused, swallowing another lump in my throat; I let out another truth with a shaky breath. “And I don’t think I could hurt any of them, if I had to fight them off I... I love them all so much, and I care about the person with their face. I’m not sure I or any of us could fight them off if they did decide to hurt any of us. Even with it programed they can’t hurt the members of the manor, I’m still scared.” I finally lay it bare, rubbing my arm, looking at the ground, I sit back down. My paranoia was really getting to me when it concerned the Egos coming into the Manor. It was irrational, I knew that.

We sit there in silence for a moment, the air thick and heavy. I would have sat there for eternity if Mark hadn’t got up. At first I was scared he was going to leave, but then he was walking towards me, then I was scared he was going shake me and yell at me more. My brain was filling up with all the bad things, my body screaming to leave, get away from the tension and confrontation. I felt like I was going to pass out as I held myself still.

In the end Mark Edward Fischbach, in his infinite wisdom kissed me on the head as if he was my dad and started petting my hair, like he was trying to calm my trembling. After expecting so many bad things, when he started petting my hair soothingly I nearly crumbled beneath him, my eyes watering a bit. But before my emotions turn, the pets start to sooth me. Odd bit about myself, when someone pets my head it starts to calm me down as if I was a dog, it’s probably linked to me being touch starved.

“I’m sorry.” Mark lets out, his voice gentle and full of remorse. “I saw you in here with them, planning out something like an attack and I... my brain just... jumped to conclusions.” Mark takes a long breath, his hand still in my hair, him towering over me as I was sitting. He lightly laughs. “It’s funny because I kept telling myself you wouldn’t do that. People keep telling me stories, they even told me you’re the house _‘Dad’_ keeping everyone safe and being super protective. So I should have known better.”

I slowly look up and Mark moves his hand, our eyes connecting. I’m sad his hand is gone, but I feel different warmth now. He still believed in me, he was just scared. He was scared like I was, his brain, just like mine took one theory and ran off with it.

“Wait,” I shake my head, realizing something. “How have people been telling you stories?”

Mark smiles down at me, laughing. “I have to check in with someone when you’re not here. And the other Mods are a lot more loose lipped.” He explains, a twinkle back in his eye. I blush in embarrassment at the idea of most likely Tom telling him about my nickname.

I take a breath and look back up at him, my turn to apologize. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier, I just... the fact you were willing to let Dark die has stuck with me a bit.” I admit.

Mark looked away and nodded. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Mark seems to take a moment to think, and I can almost see the pain he’s going through, trying to find something to say to explain himself. He seems to be stuck, so I throw him a bone.

Carefully I stand and very slowly put a hand on his shoulder, I expect him to flinch but he doesn’t, and that warms my heart a bit more. “It’s okay Mark, you don’t have to try and explain yourself. You already did, and I get it. But I’ve decided were going to make a truce with the Egos. I want this place to be a safe haven for them too.” Instead of him explaining I do, confident in my words for the first time since we started talking.

Slowly a very warm smile stretches across his face, his warm brown eyes sparkling again. He chuckles in a soothing deep way, looking back at me in a way that makes my whole body warm. “And you decided to do that by pranking them back.” He laughs even more, now taking my hand from his shoulder and holding it. “I knew I picked right.” He whispered.

I’m taken aback for a moment, but try to bounce back quickly. So I stick out my tongue. “Don’t let it go to your head old man!” I feel so full of light and happiness after he said that, and I smile a smile that feels the sincerest it’s been for a while.

“Old man?!” Mark says with a fake gasp, then pretends to nearly faint. He covers his eyes and goes full drama queen. “How could you say that to me...” Then he peeks at me through his hand. _“Dad.”_ He adds with an incredibly teasing tone.

I blush and shake my head strenuously. “No!” I put my hands up at that and start to walk away, too overcome with **NOPE**. “NO!” I say again even louder.

Mark starts to laugh so hard he’s nearly crying.

**-X-**

“Lupus, I need a favor!”

I find the shy wolf girl in the secondary game room where almost everyone from the meeting was hanging out. She’s playing tag team Overwatch matches with some of the others, while keeping a sharp eye on Sigma and Max. Sigma was still glaring at the young boy and the latter was also still irritating the other.

What I also found was Chica, the missing Golden, practically in her lap. “Ah, that’s where she went.” Lupus is hugging the big dog, who seems to almost dwarf her. But the two seem to be very content and happy with the situation. However when Lupus saw me she began to blush a bit, embarrassed with being caught red handed. I cross my arms, but can’t help but smile at the cuteness. “Mark’s looking for her Lu.”

Lupus just puts her face in the dog’s scruff and mumbles. “I know.” The words are muffled by the copious amounts of golden dog in the way.

“Want to explain?” I ask with a smile I can’t contain. Honestly the picture in front of me is just too damn adorable.

Lupus’ head pops back up. “She just... she followed me!” Lupus explains with a slight defensive whine to her voice. She’s blushing a bit as she pulls her head away from Chica.

“Its okay Lu, I believe you. But I gotta mission for ya!” I say calmly, and in a friendly way. I wanted Lupus to know she wasn’t in trouble, honestly. It was fine. Made me feel better someone trustworthy had been watching Chica. I also really did have a bit of a favor to ask of her.

Lupus’ ears twitch. “Oh?” She sounds both concerned and interested at the same time.  


I walk over to her, sitting on the arm rest of the couch. I’m close, but not personal space close.  “Yeah, I need you to distract Mark. Give him a tour or something; introduce him to some more of the tenants of this place.”

“What?” She starts to hug Chica tighter. The Golden Ray of Sunshine doesn’t seem to mind. “Can’t someone else do that? I’m not so good with that kinda stuff.” Lupus starts to put her face back in Chica’s scruff.

“Hey,” I gently put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly with reassurance. “I know you can do it. You’ll be doing me a big favor, and helping me keep an eye on Mark and the Manor. Keeping them safe.” I add in that last bit, hoping it’ll convince one of my second in command.  

Something sharpens in Lupus’ eyes, and she reluctantly nods in understanding. “Okay.” She says hesitantly as she begins to stroke Chica’s back.

“Look on the bright side; you get to spend more time with Chica this way!” I add in, hoping that’ll really put the finishing touches on my persuasion.

Lupus brightened considerably after I said that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A half a chapter to tide you guys over since I've been a bit behind.


End file.
